Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is one of the most accurate ranging technologies at present, and it is increasingly widely used in consumer, automobile, industrial and other sectors, with extremely promising market development prospects. This article will show you the application and development of LiDAR and onsemi's LiDAR development kit's functional features.
LiDAR has higher precision and wider application
In the Internet of Things (IoT) applications, silicon photomultiplier (SIPM) technology with low power consumption and high performance is expected to be used for more and more ranging and sensing applications to improve product performance. It is especially true for LiDAR applications with near-infrared (NIR) wavelength that can maintain the safety of human eyes, such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), 3D depth mapping, mobile applications, consumer and industrial ranging, etc.
The so-called SiPM is a solid-state single photon sensitive device based on a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) implemented on a common silicon substrate. In order to take advantage of the high gain, high bandwidth, low voltage and fast response characteristics of the SiPM sensor, it can be used in direct time of flight (dToF) applications to provide accurate ranging with the lowest power budget.
Industrial-grade LiDAR has the accuracy of up to 5 ~ 15cm vertically, and 30 ~ 50cm horizontally and has faster data acquisition and processing capability as well as greater stability to ambient light and climatic conditions. Industrial-grade LiDAR may be used for applications such as sensing, object detection, avoidance, location mapping, etc.
Complete development platform accelerates product development
For ranging applications, onsemi has launched a SiPM sensor with high sensitivity, allowing the use of low-power lasers to improve human eye safety. onsemi has also created a software model that can accurately determine the system performance under various input conditions. It has also created a hardware ranging platform including the SiPM sensor.
In order to speed up the development of LiDAR by manufacturers, onsemi has launched a LiDAR development kit. This SiPM LiDAR supporting dToF technology demonstrates a complete ranging application and may help developers familiarize themselves with basic technologies and all necessary building blocks. In addition, the kit also helps to evaluate core components of the system, such as the SiPM sensor. Through the test points provided on the hardware and various functions and configurable parameters on the graphical user interface (GUI), developers will be able to evaluate the kit and accelerate the application development in a fast and user-friendly way.
Approved by the FDA to meet multiple standards
SECO-RANGEFINDER-GEVK
The SECO-RANGEFINDER-GEVK SiPM dToF LiDAR is a single-point ranging development kit for cost-optimized industrial and commercial applications. Based on the latest NIR SiPM of onsemi (RB series), this kit integrates all basic subsystems of the application, including laser and reference circuit (Tx), receiving circuit (Rx), power management system, and core FPGA and UART communication. This kit has passed FDA certification and includes a multi-function GUI, which can comprehensively evaluate ranging performance and adjust system variables, such as pulse number or bias voltage of SiPM-RB photomultiplier.
With single-point dToF operation, this LiDAR development kit supports detection of target distances over 0.11 m to 23 m. Using 650-1050 nm coated BK7 plano-convex lens, the measurement distance can be maximized. The 905±5nm band pass optical filter (30±5nm FWHM) is used to receive SiPM diodes and obtain the highest sensitivity in the selected spectrum. The 905 nm laser diode transmitter and RB series SiPM detector are used. The FPGA-based time-to-digital converter (TDC) can perform automatic TDC calibration (using FPGA reference clock), supporting readout, communication interface, and control of two regulated bias supplies.
This LiDAR development kit uses a dedicated PC application (GUI), supporting out-of-the-box operation. It can operate with a single supply (with a supply from USB = 5 V or PMOD connector = 3.3 V). Under normal operating conditions and single failure conditions, it meets the power supply requirements of Class 1 laser products to BS EN 60825-1:2014 and complies with laser safety standards IEC/EN 60825-1:2014 and 21 CFR 1040.10 and 1040.11, except for the deviation pursuant to Laser Notice No.56. It features optimized system cost and software adjustable settings suitable for various industrial and IoT applications. It also supports scalable platforms and can be connected to a Bluetooth development kit (BDK-GEVK) and various other sensors and actuators. This development kit may be used for applications including indoor navigation and ranging (up to 23 m), collision detection and 3D mapping.
Conclusion
Because of high precision, LiDAR has become the first choice for ranging applications with great market development potential. The SiPM dToF LiDAR development kit launched by onsemi has a complete software and hardware development platform and has passed FDA certification in advance. It will speed up the product development of manufacturers and is worthy of in-depth understanding by manufacturers interested in the development of related application products.
